At the Cinema - February 2015

McFarland USA – 9
You’ll like this movie if you liked Rudy and Rocky.
Those two movies are all-time sport tearjerkers built around the thrill of competition and fighting on the playground of a sport.
In this stand-up and cheer movie Kevin Costner plays an exiled football coach who has moved his family into one of the poorest counties in America, populated by mostly Mexicans who pick the California fruit – all their lives.  Coach White, whose very name is a continual source of amusement to his students, soon realizes that the football team is hopeless, but the school is full of runners who have to run to their jobs in the fields before and after school.
It’s a tough life and White and his family soon become educated in the customs of the community and realize that maybe their vagabond coaching journey may have ended in a worthwhile destination.  White’s ragtag cross country team begins climbing the competitive heights and he sees their abilities as a way to a better life for them, maybe even a college education.

The cast is uniformly terrific and this is just a great sports movie, told lovingly.  There’s been no hype to this movie, but don’t let that fool you.  If you like sports, go see this.  It’s exhilarating in a way that only sports movies can be.

Still Alice – 9
You’ll like this movie if you like great acting.
I was genuinely surprised how much I liked this movie.  I knew Julianne Moore was the favorite for the Oscar, and she eventually won it.  It was well deserved.
What I didn’t expect was how compelling the movie would be.  Don’t confuse that statement with it being an enjoyable movie.  It’s very difficult to watch at times, and anyone who struggles with their memory from time to time has to feel sympathetic.

Julianne plays Alice, a teacher at Columbia University who becomes afflicted with early onset Alzheimers.  There are little heartbreaking signs at first, like when she introduces herself to someone twice.  Then as it gets worse, there is a devastating scene where she can’t find the bathroom in her own house.   

There is realistic and profound family reaction from her husband played by Alec Baldwin, and two daughters (Kristen Stewart and Kate Bosworth) as they struggle with the present and the future, including the genetic impact of the disease.

It’s all exposed like a raw nerve, and while Moore carries the movie, it will surprise you with its depth.

Citizenfour – 8
This is the movie that won the Best Documentary Oscar, and I will admit I struggled with it.  It’s the story of Edward Snowden, who in one of his first acts as whistleblower calls documentary film maker Laura Poitras to his Hong Kong hotel room.  He then begins spilling the beans on how America spies on its citizens. 

I wrestled with the issues present as the movie unfolds, and unfold it does as Snowden makes world wide headlines.  First, I can remember reading 1984 and being scared that our future could be one of surveillance by the government.  The actions described here make George Orwell seem like a simpleton.  But then Orwell never experienced terrorism and digital warfare.  So, while the government seems to be going over the line, they are successfully thwarting much of what we want them to protect us from. 
Then there’s Snowden, who is either a traitor or a hero, depending on your viewpoint. 

I consider myself pretty open minded and came to this with no pre-disposition.  The movie didn’t resolve it for me.  Guess I’m still evolving.  Let me know what you think.  This is an important documentary, but let’s face it, the story isn’t over yet, which is just as well, as I need to see more "unfolding."